Great day for B.C. Day celebrants in Langford

There was definitely something for everyone at Monday’s B.C. Day celebration and Performing Arts Festival at Westhills Stadium.

Two stages were kept busy all day featuring everything from Baroque classical music and the smooth strains of strings, to a musical rendition of kid-favourite The Little Red Hen, to the West Shore Community Concert band filling the stadium and a wide variety of performances from the Lighthouse Academy of Dance.

Some of the most adorable moments of the day were provided by dozens of little ones in attendance who broke into gleeful dancing, in particular one blonde toddler who stomped her feet on the grass along with tap dancers performing to ‘Putting on the Ritz.’

Mascots meandered the field giving out hugs and high fives, and magician Jordan Blaikie amazed and astounded his young audience by making silver dollars jump through handkerchiefs and pulling ropes through flesh and bone.

Kids got the chance to throw lacrosse balls around and tackle football dummies with the Victoria Shamrocks and the Westshore Rebels, respectively, and the mini-golf course had many a golfer-in-training concentrating on their putting skills.

Overall the day could be considered a great success, said Laura Davis, director with festival co-ordinator West Shore Arts Council.

An estimated 4,500 people turned out for the celebrations, she said, adding that the fourth annual event came off so well, in large part, due to the partnership between Westhills and the Arts Council.

“It was not just a sponsorship by either party. Jessica Hargrove (of Westhills) and myself were both in the trenches together,” Davis said.